Chicken Run

Reid checking out the turkeys. They are so much funnier than the boring chickens we went home with.

A few years ago, I asked my friend Cole to build a chicken coop for me. I came up with a plan looking at other coops online and he did an amazing job. Those chickens met an indescribable fate and I've been in chicken mourning since. Recently, though, I have decided it was time to replace the girls. My trip home from San Antonio proved to be the perfect time.

I was bringing Reid home with me and we found a place in Burnet that had some girls for sale. I probably should have called to check the price first. They ended up being kinda expensive ($25 each), but the experience was worth it, right? After driving 3 hours with them in the trunk, I popped those babies into the chicken run (oh, the irony of that word) and took off to an interpreting job and to see Papawfiretruck. After putting the baby down that night, I went out to check on them. One was where she needed to be but the other was high in a tree right above the fence. Dang it! I had to climb on top of the coop and shoo her down. Fortunately, she landed on our side of the fence. I tried unsuccessfully to corral her into the coop, but she was a feisty one. I gave up and went to bed.

They were there and happy the next morning. Kenny said they were there all day, but when I went to see them after work, the feisty one had made a run for it. We searched the back yard and the neighbors back yard. We walked up and down the street. Nothing. Now my $50 pair of chickens was one $50 hen. I'd need a lot of eggs to make that up! Kenny, though, the patron saint of all things lost, jumped on his bike and started searching. One block up and a few house over, he saw some folks looking at something in the shrubs. Our girl! He hurried home and got the fishing net (?) and a box. Mamie and toddler followed, ready for the chicken safari. This was across the street from the park so by the time she was cornered and boxed, we had quite the audience of little boys with their moms. So exciting!!! I'll spare you the details of the hunt and capture but have to say that nothing is funnier than several grown men and a granny chasing a hen through the neighborhood, nets swinging and arms flapping (the men and the chicken).

They can't see me, can they?

Going in for the catch.

Captured! That's paint on his shirt, no chicken blood was lost.

We got home and left her in the box until we could clip her wings, which couldn't be done without an internet tutorial (maybe I should Pin it). Reid had other ideas, though, and freed the hen, who in the excitement, laid an egg. Glory be!

Sorry about the bad picture. I was trying to catch him before he threw it in the pond.

Of course, we had to chase her again. We got her into the run, but Kenny couldn't catch her, so trapped them both in the coop and crawled inside to clip their wings.

We now know how to clip a hen's wings. Give us a call if you need help.

Watching the fun out the kitchen window.

I know that excitement like this can't be bought. I bet you all are thinking, "Wow, those Clouds have a lot of fun". Leave your name and number and the next time one of the girls makes a break for it, I'll give you a call.

I just added this because I thought it was much cuter than the "Chasing Reid to get the egg before he throws it" picture. We also worked in the garden.